Thursday, September 25, 2008

All caught up..

Well we are almost caught up to my everyday life. I currently maintain 15 websites and my earnings are almost enough to live on, but not quite enough for me to retire from my day job. I switched the original content of jimmohr.com to gaming, and bought several more gaming related websites. The reason I have built so many sites around computer games is that I have a captive audience. While the visitor is playing a game on my site, they usually stay on the page for the duration of the game. I surround the game with a banner or text link or two and the visitor cannot help be exposed to your revenue generating ads. Another advantage of building a gaming website, is once you have the website done, it really does not need to be updated. This is a big problem with websites that offer current information. It is very time consuming updating multiple pages. Also if you operate a Big Fish gaming site (which is free) you earn up to 40% of any revenue generated from game sales!

A common misconception is that webmasters make money when a visitor comes to their website. This is not true, a visitor must do something when they get there. The way I make money is when someone downloads a free screensaver. Several companies pay $1 (or so) for a download that you refer. Several companies also offer from $.25 to $5 for every free website that is built from your referral. There also generous payouts if you refer someone to sign up for paid web hosting. For example, if someone pays for 1 month (approximately $10) and signs up for Yahoo web hosting, Yahoo gives you $60! There are dozens of web hosting companies that pay as much or more for referrals! You an also make some good money if someone purchases an item from your referral though this is actually the hardest way to make money. These methods and more can be implemented by joining affiliate programs. Several websites like Commission Junction or PepperJam represent hundreds of companies that NEED you to run their campaigns. You need to have a website with some useful content before you apply for an affiliate program as they will look at your website to make sure you are ready. A lot of affiliates will also not accept a website built on a free webhost.